On Saturday Jan 26th, ~1,500 people gathered in Portland, ME, voicing opposition to a tar sands pipeline that would run from Montreal to Portland.
Here’s some video footage of the event, courtesty of Michael Horan.
There’s also a Flickr slideshow.
Author Archive
by Smedley VFP
Alternative People’s Parade for Peace, Equality, Jobs, Environmental Stewardship, Social and Economic Justice
When: Sunday, March 17
Where: South Boston
Please join us for our Third Annual Saint Patrick’s Peace Parade, the Alternative People’s Parade for Peace, Equality, Jobs, Environmental Stewardship, Social and Economic Justice.
Why are there two parades on Saint Patrick’s Day?
For the past three years Veterans For Peace have been denied to walk in the historic Saint Patrick’s Parade in South Boston. This is the largest parade of its kind in the country with over 700,000 people viewing the parade. The parade has a dual purpose; the celebration of Saint Patrick and the Irish traditions and heritage and a celebration of Evacuation Day, the day the British were run out of Boston. Both days fall on March 17th, so the City of Boston thought it a good idea to have the Allied War Veterans Council (AWVC) organize the parade. The problem is that one side of the equation, St. Patrick, a man of peace, is second fiddle to a military parade. AWVC has the exclusive say in who gets to walk in this historical parade. The City of Boston, South Boston Community Groups, the Boston Police have absolutely no say in who walks the streets of South Boston in the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade.
In 2011 Veterans For Peace’s application was denied, when asked why and were told, “They did not want to have the word Peace associated with the word Veteran”. Well they did not know the Smedleys very well. We pulled our own permit and with only three weeks to go before the parade pulled together 500 people and the Saint Patrick’s Peace Parade, the Alternative People’s Parade for Peace, Equality, Jobs, Environmental Stewardship, Economic and Social Justice was born.
Twenty years ago the LGBT community wanted to walk in the parade and were denied which resulted in a lawsuit that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court resulting in the Hurley Decision. The Smedleys immediately reached out to the LGBT community, inviting them to “walk in our parade”
In 2012 we had close to 2,000 people, seven divisions (Veterans, Peace, LGBT, Labor, Political, Religious, Occupy Everywhere) two bands, bag pipers, drummers, a Duck Boat, two trollies etc. It was a grand success. We have an Environmental Stewardship Division this year. Our goal is to end this last vestige of institutionalized exclusion, prejudice, bigotry, and homophobia and make this parade inclusive and welcoming to all and bring the message of peace to South Boston on Saint Patrick’s Day.
Please join us in South Boston on March 17. Be sure to bring your Chapter’s or Organization’s banners, signs and costumes and join us in our fabulous Third Annual Saint Patrick’s Peace Parade.
On behalf of the Saint Patrick’s Peace Parade Organizing Committee.
Thank you,
Pat Scanlon (VN 69′)
Coordinator, VFP Chapter 9, Smedley Butler Brigade
Vets4PeaceChapter9@gmail.com
Phone: 978-475-1776
Web: smedleyvfp.org
Twitter: @SmedleyVFP
Facebook: facebook.com/smedleyvfp
Flyer: VFP St Pats Flyer
Source: http://act-ma.org/pipermail/act-ma_act-ma.org/2013/006480.html
by Rita
UPDATE: this event was rescheduled! See https://www.occupyboston.org/2013/02/07/nlg-fundraiser-rescheduled.
NLG Press Release. Please support NLG in their fundraiser and pack the courtrooms for upcoming 5 Occupy Boston Political Trials.
Since its beginnings the National Lawyers Guild has been an organization that radicals and activists can depend on for legal support when attacked by the government. For nearly 40 years, the NLG Mass Defense Committee has been advising, assisting, and representing activists who are engaged in struggles for political, legal, and social changes to benefit the disfranchised members of the society. Continuing in this proud tradition, the Mass Defense Committee of our Massachusetts chapter provides vital legal support to social justice movements throughout Massachusetts.
In the last two years, the Mass Defense Committee has provided legal representation for activists arrested fighting foreclosures and evictions in our community. They are representing people arrested at the offices of TransCanada protesting the Keystone XL pipeline. From the beginning, the National Lawyers Guild was providing vital legal services to activists and organizers at Occupy Boston.
On October 10th and December 10th of 2011, the City of Boston raided the Occupy Boston encampment arresting dozens of people. From the moment of the first arrests, the Mass Defense Committee was on the ground to make sure that everyone arrested had effective legal representation. More importantly, the Mass Defense Committee has remained committed to a political defense strategy that ensures that the message of Occupy Boston isn’t left at the courthouse doors. 25 of the Occupy defendants are insisting on their 6th Amendment right to trial, and the first of these trials will be held on February 11th at the Boston Municipal Court.
Mass Defense work costs money, and the lawyers who do this work take these cases pro-bono. Meanwhile, those we are up against enjoy the full resources of the District Attorney’s Office and the Boston Police Department. We have to ensure that the people’s struggle for justice is never silenced by this criminal injustice system.
THAT IS WHY WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! Join us on Friday 8th, from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM+, for a night of food, drinks and pool at Jillians, 145 Ipswitch St. Boston, MA. Sliding scale of $25.00-$500.00.
Thank-you, Rita
Returning Tactical Funds
Take any remaining funds allocated for the tactical proposal for re-occupation (as determined by FAWG – originally $14,000), and return it to the general funds of Occupy Boston to fund other projects.
Proposed by Dana. Passed by consensus
FAWG Note: It appears that there was $12,000 remaining in the tactical proposal. See tactical-summary.csv
Funding for the Boston Occupier
PROPOSAL
The Boston Occupier, an affinity group, proposes that the Occupy Boston General Assembly donate $2,842 to support the printing and distribution of two issues of the Boston Occupier newspaper.
Funds from the Occupy Boston General Assembly will be used only to cover costs associated with printing and distributing the newspaper. The Boston Occupier will observe complete financial transparency in its disbursement of the funds (as the group has done since it began; see
http://bostonoccupier.com/budget-report). Meanwhile, it will continue to investigate and develop other fundraising models in an effort to achieve longterm financial viability.
The Boston Occupier will remain open to new writers, editors, cartoonists, distributors, and other staff members. It will continue to operate its organization on a model of mutual respect and consensus-based decision making. The Occupy Boston General Assembly will not have any editorial control over the paper or the website (http://bostonoccupier.com) as a result of its donation. We believe that the previous twelve issues of the print edition, as well as the archived content on our website, indicate the consistency of our subject matter, our editorial standards, and our commitment to progressive, radical, left, and grassroots causes and values. We believe our values and practices to be broadly consistent with the values and practices of Occupy Boston.
BACKGROUND
The mission of the Boston Occupier is to produce free, grassroots journalism for New England’s 99% and beyond, while adhering to the principles of accuracy, fairness, transparency, thoroughness and independence. Through the publication of our print and online editions, we aim to be a credible, engaging source of information about progressive, radical, left, and grassroots issues as well as organizing on behalf of social and economic justice and anti-oppression. We are especially concerned to cover stories that the mainstream media neglects to report, or reports in a biased or inadequate manner.
On November 18, 2011, we printed our first issue of paper, and our most recent issue hit the streets in mid-December, 2012. As of this issue, our twelfth, we have distributed more than 120,000 copies of the Boston Occupier. The vast majority of our distribution is in the greater Boston area and Massachusetts. In addition to regular staff writers, past contributors (of reports, stories, and / or photos) include Noah McKenna, Sage Radachowsky, Betsy Boggia, Amanda Achin, Ian Spinich, Theresa Earle, Brian Kwoba, Bil Lewis, Chase Carter, Anna Clayton, and Deborah Sirotkin Butler. Recent subject matter includes anti-drone activism in Boston, Idle No More, rallies in solidarity with Bangladeshi workers, Occupy Sandy, fossil fuel divestment, Monsanto, Boston workers’ protests against Diva Restaurant wage theft, Bradley Manning, student debt, the Debt Jubilee, the Maiden Tentants’ Union, Occupy Homes MA, the Lawrence Bread & Roses Festival, Howard Zinn, the South African miners’ strike, the MBTA, the corporate attack on public education, ALEC, 350.org, and Pilgrim Nuclear power plant.
Content produced by our staff has been reprinted in the Boston Dig, Dollars & Sense, and truthout.org, among other outlets. OBR (Occupy Boston Radio), Boston’s Spare Change News, Open Media Boston have recognized our efforts and reached out to collaborate with us.
Past funding for the Boston Occupier has come from a Kickstarter fund, subscriptions and donations, and a grant from the Movement Resource Group (a working group of Occupy Wall Street). This grant was for six months of funding, and its term ended in January 2013. The newspaper has started the process of coming a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization.
Current, regularly participating members of the Boston Occupier include Angie Brandt, Emily Hopkins, Doug Enaa Greene, Joe Ramsey, Kendra Moyer, Julie Orlemanski, Josh Sager, Sarah Herman, Dan Schneider, and Sandra Korn.
Proposed by the Boston Occupier. Passed by consensus
GA Minutes: http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/GA_Minutes_Sun_Jan_20_2013.
by Garret
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 18, 2013
Protest March Planned For All Major Boston and Cambridge MBTA Subway Stations
Civil rights activists will gather across the city on Groundhog Day to demand an end to random, un-Warranted bag checks in subways by TSA, DHS, and Transit Police. Simultaneous marches will commence at noon at five locations (Kenmore, Harvard, Ruggles, Lechmere, and South Station) and travel different routes through Boston and Cambridge to converge at 2 p.m. for a rally at the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common.
BOSTON, MA-Civil, Constitutional, and Human Rights activists today announced formalized plans to protest the MBTA’s partnership with the Department of Homeland Security. Activists demand an end to random Warrantless searches of passengers in the MBTA transit system by any law enforcement organization or contractor thereof, and recognize these acts as an egregious violation of 4th Amendment protections.
The five legs of the march will start at the following locations: Harvard Square (in the Pit), South Station (at Dewey Square), Lechmere Station (on 1st St. across from Otis St.), Kenmore Square (in the Commonwealth Ave. median park across from India Quality restaurant), and Ruggles Square (in Centennial Common). Each leg commences at the same time (noon) and ends at 2 p.m. for the rally at the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common. The rally will include several speakers (names TBA) and will end at 3 p.m.
In advance of the planned protests, participants will be delivering letters to the heads of the MBTA, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, and the Department of Homeland Security, calling for an end to the Warrantless bag checks being conducted on law-abiding citizens and visitors to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The community members who are planning this protest are not part of any organized group of any kind. We are ordinary citizens gathering to protest the violation of our rights as recognized and affirmed by Amendment IV of the U.S. Constitution.
For more information about the protest routes/times, please visit the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/events/510992278941389).
For more information, or to schedule an interview with the protest organizers, please contact Garret Kirkland at (617) 955-9194.
Flyer: Defend the 4th Flyer